Gluten-free and SCD

Chocolate Covered Marshmallows for Easter (SCD & GFCF)

One of my favourite treats that are sold around Easter time are chocolate covered marshmallows, which are usually shaped in the form of an egg. I wanted to make marshmallow eggs this year but didn’t have time enough, however I know how to go about it now so that I can do it next time. (I detail how to do this later in the post.)

These marshmallows are made with my basic recipe and as soon as the marshmallow has thickened, it sets fairly quickly unlike marshmallows made with refined sugar and corn syrup (there’s a scientific reason, I know, but I won’t get into it here) so it’s important to not overwork it otherwise it sets as it’s being whipped and you won’t be able to mold it; essentially marshmallow fluff. (This, however, I found is easily rectified by simply putting the marshmallow mass into a pot and gently heating it while stirring until it starts to melt. Once there, pour into the pan and allow it to reset.)

To coat the marshmallows in chocolate, you must temper the chocolate. Over the years I have read several texts, including blogs, about tempering chocolate but I only just learned how with the instructions from Roald Dahl’s Even More Revolting Recipes, which, for me, best described how to do it in a straightforward manner. I was well pleased with this accomplishment, especially as this was my very first time to temper chocolate!

As many of my loyal readers probably know, I have somewhat of a penchant for food science and how food and different ingredients work together with scientific explanations. Several of those texts that I read on tempering chocolate delved into the science, about the size of the chocolate molecules, etc., but in some cases those explanations complicate the simplest of things and intimidate those uninitiated instead of serving to enlighten one on a subject, such as tempering chocolate – which really is easy, practically, it just sounds complicated. It’s easy, trust me.

(Apparently my next candy making goal is to make Willy Wonka’s Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight, as commissioned by my brother.)

I’m seeming to become well-known for some of my old-fashioned ways and it’s apparently more widespread than I thought: recently I was listed as one of the “50 Most Delicious Gluten-Free Blogs“, along with several other great blogs and bloggers, some of whom I can count as friends, with the following–

“She has been known to wait for the perfect “atmospheric conditions” before taking on unique GF recipes, involving lots of whipping.”

My reputation for doing things by hand is growing! Surely that is in reference to meringue and, perhaps notably, marshmallows.

Tempering chocolate: Fill a small pot with a couple inches of water and bring to a simmer. Once the water is simmering, set a stove-proof bowl over the pot (not in the pot) and melt 50 grams of chocolate in the bowl, stirring occasionally.

As soon as the chocolate has completely melted, remove the bowl from heat and stir the remaining 50 grams of chocolate into the melted chocolate. Stir slowly, with a whisk or wooden spoon.

Assembly: Dip the marshmallows into the tempered chocolate, coating all sides, and place chocolate covered marshmallows on a plate with parchment paper. You may wish to use a skewer for this to prevent mess. (I used my fingers and it was, needless to say, messy as well as slightly awkward. I had to “paint” extra tempered chocolate where my fingers had touched.) Place in the fridge for 15 minutes or until set. When set, the chocolate feels smooth and glossy.

Enjoy!

***

For marshmallow eggs, fill a pan with cornstarch and level. Use eggs to create indents in the leveled cornstarch, creating the “molds” for the marshmallow. Spoon or pipe marshmallow into the egg-shaped indents and allow to set. Once set, take the marshmallows (now egg-shaped) out of the cornstarch and dust off excess cornstarch. Coat in tempered chocolate, following same instructions above.

For an SCD or grain-free, starch-free option, try using coconut flour instead of cornstarch (I would recommend Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour since it is more powdery in consistency than Tropical Traditions) and don’t coat the marshmallows in chocolate.

Post navigation

OH DEAR! This looks my kryptonite! Two of my favourite things :) When I saw this I also thought of doing a caramel under the chocolate or drizzled over top with some of that rock salt, kind of like the Starbuck’s salted caramel hot chocolate you mentioned before. I would have to make it in secret first though to get my fill and then the second batch I might share…might being the key word!

Miss Kitty, you are torturing me here with that notion of salted caramel chocolate coated marshmallows (wow, what a mouthful! can we make that any shorter?) or even without the salt, it would be DIVINE. Ah, next time I will make caramel and temper chocolate and coat the marshmallows in those layers. I relish the thought.

Aw, thanks, Maggie! Oh yes, Roald Dahl has two cookbooks (Revolting Recipes and Even More Revolting Recipes as mentioned) with recipes based on his stories, which were accumulated by his wife Felicity Dahl. For the tempered chocolate it explained simply what tempering did and instructed how, without involving any science explanations in the least. My brother is into Roald Dahl at the moment and he loves the stories and both cookbooks.

Hi Klem, if you were not tempering the chocolate, you can stir in some unsalted butter or coconut oil if you’re dairy-free and that will smooth it out as it melts. I’ve had the same problem before as you described and adding butter (or other non-dairy sub) fixes it.

If you were tempering chocolate, since this was my first time to temper chocolate I don’t have experience yet sweetening tempered chocolate but I would suggest trying to sweeten it after tempering. Did you melt some of the chocolate, then add the solid chocolate after it was melted? I’ll try using some unsweetened or dark chocolate next time I try tempering in an effort to try to sweeten it and will share my results.

Thanks, Carol! Tempering chocolate is very easy, it just sounds complicated once you get into all the technical detail, which kept me from doing it for a long time. I hope to do a post dedicated to tempering chocolate at some point.